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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Anastasiya Merkushyna

  • Saturday Rundown: NCAA Champs; Holmenkollen 50 k; Kontiolahti Relays

    Saturday Rundown: NCAA Champs; Holmenkollen 50 k; Kontiolahti Relays

    The top finishers in the men’s 20 k freestyle mass start at 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with Northern Michigan University’s Ian Torchia (c) in first. (Photo: Dartmouth Sports/Clarkson Creative)

    NCAA Skiing Championships (Steamboat Springs, Colorado): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts

    On the fourth and final day of NCAA Skiing Championships at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Katharine Ogden skied to her second-straight national title, Ian Torchia became an NCAA champion and the University of Denver (DU) won its 24th NCAA National Championship.

    Dartmouth freshman Katharine Ogden racing to her second-straight victory of the 2018 NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She won Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start by more than 38 seconds. (Photo: Dartmouth Sports/Clarkson Creative)

    Ogden, a Dartmouth College freshman, raced to a 38.4-second victory in the women’s 15-kilometer mass start, finishing in 43:22.0 minutes for her second win in as many races at 2018 NCAA Championships. She won the 5 k classic on Thursday and with her win on Saturday, she became the first Dartmouth skier in 56 years to win two national titles in the same year, according to a Dartmouth press release.

    On the second of three laps, Ogden broke away early with close to 10 k to go. According to the press release, she had a “quick fall” near the end of the second lap, but that didn’t derail her as she had time to grab sunglasses from Dartmouth men’s coach Brayton Osgood and a Dartmouth Lone Pine flag before the finish.

    At this year’s championships, Ogden’s two titles are accompanied by victories from Dartmouth men’s alpine skiers Brian McLaughlin (who won the giant slalom) and Tanguy Nef (who won the slalom). This marked only the second time that Dartmouth’s Big Green won four individual titles in a single NCAA Championships; that also occurred 61 years ago.

    “Katharine absolutely wanted this one, and she really likes to win,” Dartmouth Director of Skiing and Women’s Nordic Head Coach Cami Thompson Graves said in the press release. “She wasn’t about to let a fall slow her down, she has such a great competitive fire. But she also showed her playful side grabbing Brayton’s glasses and smiling all the way to the finish line!”

    Hailey Swirbul of the University of Alaska Anchorage placed second and Linn Eriksen (DU) reached the podium in third (+46.3). Denver had three in the top 10 with Jasmi Joensuu in ninth and Taeler McCrerey in 10th. Also landing in the top 10 for All-American honors were Guro Jordheim of the University of Utah in fourth, Emma Tarbath (Montana State University) in fifth, Petra Hyncicova of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) in sixth, Christina Rolandsen (CU) in seventh, and Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth) in eighth.

    Torchia, an Northern Michigan University (NMU) junior and U.S. Ski Team Development Team member, became the seventh NCAA champion in NMU Wildcats nordic skiing history, according to an NMU press release. Fredrick Schwenke was the Wildcats’ last nordic champion; he won the 2015 NCAA Championships 20 k classic.

    Torchia drew bib 1 for Saturday’s 20 k freestyle mass start and crossed the finish line first in 54:21.0, just 2 seconds ahead of CU’s Alvar Alev. Eivind Kvaale (DU) finished just four seconds back in third, and Denver had three in the top seven with Dag Frode Trollebø in fourth and Lars Hannah in seventh. Darmouth’s Cal Deline placed fifth, Zane Fields of Colby College finished sixth, and the 20 k freestyle’s 2017 NCAA champion Martin Bergström (Utah), who also won Thursday’s 10 k classic, placed eighth.  CU’s Petter Reistad and Sondre Bollum finished ninth and 10th, respectively.

    In the team standings, Denver beat Colorado by 41 points for the overall win with a total of 604 points between the nordic and alpine events at this year’s championships. Dartmouth placed third, 114.5 points behind Colorado, and Utah was another 63 points back in fourth.

    According to a DU press release, Denver has won at least one national championship in each of the last five athletic seasons (skiing: 2013/14, 2015/16, 2017/18; hockey: 2016-17; men’s lacrosse 2014/15), joining only Stanford on the list of schools that have done so in the last five seasons. (Oregon, West Virginia, Penn State, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Florida could potentially join that list later this year.)

    “It feels incredible,” said DU head coach Andy LeRoy said in the press release. “I am so happy for all of our athletes, they’ve been training all week and all season and to do it in Steamboat in front of our crowd is special.”

    Results: Women | Men| Team 

    Photos

    ***

    The Holmenkollen men’s 50 k freestyle mass start podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Oslo, Norway, with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second, and Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

    FIS Cross Country World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Men’s 50 k freestyle mass start

    Full report

    A four-time Olympic champion, Dario Cologna of Switzerland won his first 50-kilometer World Cup race on Saturday, topping the podium in the famous Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start after outlunging Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (who won the event last year) for the win in 2:01:48.1. Sundby finished one-hundredth of a second behind for second place, ahead of Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin, who was 1.1 seconds back in third in his first World Cup race since November of last year.

    The photo finish for first between Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (near) and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby at the Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start on Saturday in Oslo, Norway. Cologna got it by 0.01 seconds. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

    Norway’s Sjur Røthe came out on top in a race for fourth (+4.2), ahead of Russia’s Denis Spitsov in fifth (+4.4) and his Norwegian teammate Hans Christer Holund in sixth (+4.5). Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave followed in seventh (+15.1), Germany’s Florian Notz placed eighth (+25.9) and Canada’s Alex Harvey finished ninth (+32.4), ahead of France’s Robin Duvillard in 10th (+33.5).

    Scott Patterson led the U.S. in 16th (+56.3) coming off an 11th place in the 50 k classic mass start at last month’s Olympics, and Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished in the points in 28th (+3:43.6). Just outside the top 30, Canada’s Graeme Killick finished 34th (+4:55.1).

    Also for the U.S, David Norris placed 38th (+6:19.7), Paddy Caldwell was 46th (+8:12.3), Noah Hoffman 49th (+10:27.9), Kevin Bolger 52nd (+12:44.2), and Simi Hamilton did not finish.

    Canada’s fourth man in the race, Andy Shields finished 47th (+8:13.6).

    Results

    ***

    Italy’s Lukas Hofer celebrates his team’s win in Saturday’s mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)

    IBU World Cup (Kontiolahti, Finland): Single mixed relay & mixed relay

    (Note: This rundown has been updated to include comments from Christian Gow and Sean Doherty.)

    In the last single mixed relay and mixed relay of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season, France and Italy came out on top, with France winning the two-person single mixed relay and Italy taking first in the coed mixed relay.

    France’s Anaïs Chevalier and Antonin Guigonnat after winning Saturday’s single mixed relay at the IBU World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)

    France’s Anaïs Chevalier and Antonin Guigonnat combined for zero penalties and six spares to finish first in the single mixed relay in 33:29.1 minutes. Guigonnat as the team’s anchor secured the win by just 2.4 seconds over Austria’s Julian Eberhard while Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø finished 4.4 seconds back for third.

    Chevalier put France in fifth after the first leg, 15.5 seconds behind Ukraine’s Iryna Varvynets in first. Guigonnat used just one spare on his first leg to move them into fourth, 9.2 seconds back while Norway led at the second exchange. On Chevalier’s second leg, she shot clean in both stages to lead through the final exchange, with Ukraine skiing just 6.2 seconds back in second.

    On the final leg, Guigonnat used two spares and stayed out of the penalty lap, keeping the team in first through the finish. Eberhard skied the second-fastest course time on that leg to elevate Austria (with Lisa Theresa Hauser) from fourth at the tag to second place at the finish, and Bø skied all the way up from eighth to third place for Norway (with Marte Olsbu) with the fastest course time.

    Ukraine’s Artem Tyschenko used just one spare but slipped to fourth with the 11th-ranked course time on that leg, as he finished 10.8 seconds behind Norway.

    Behind Russia in fifth and Italy in sixth, Canada placed seventh (+23.8) with Rosanna Crawford and Christian Gow. The duo combined for zero penalties and six spares, and put themselves in third place early in the race. Crawford skied them into third on the first leg, using just two spares and tagging Gow 7.4 seconds out of first.

    Gow went on to take the lead after cleaning prone without any spares, and he cleaned standing as well but slipped back to third while Bø took the lead. Gow tagged Crawford in third, 8.9 seconds behind Norway in first.

    “I didn’t think too much about being tagged in third,” Gow recalled in an email to FasterSkier. “It was exciting for sure, but I let it fade to the background so that I could focus on my job both on the track and in the range.  It was great to leave prone in first place! It was also surprising, but it was a good place to be in.

    “My skiing was ok today,” he continued. “It is a really challenging and demanding race format that we don’t get a lot of practice with.  I was sick after the Olympic Games and only finally coming around the past couple days.  The Sprint race was horrendous for me, so today was much better than that. In the range I just focussed on myself and trusted my shooting.  I tried my best not to get caught up in the race going on around me and it worked to my benefit.”

    Crawford then slipped to seventh and 21 seconds back with three prone spares, but avoided the penalty lap, and Gow held onto seventh through the finish, using just one spare and skiing the eighth-fastest course time on that leg.

    “We are both happy with this result,” Gow wrote. “I think that we are both looking at the 23 second gap to first and thinking that if things had worked out just a bit better we could be there.  It can be both exciting and frustrating to be that close to the podium.  We know we can do it, it’s just a matter of putting it together on the right day. We are happy with 7th, but hungry for more.”

    Susan Dunklee and Lowell Bailey finished 14th for the U.S., 1:13.0 out of first with one penalty and 14 spares. The penalty came on Dunklee’s first leg during her standing stage, after she had cleaned prone without any spares. She tagged Bailey in 14th and he brought them up to 11th, using three spares on that leg, then Dunklee came through the final exchange in 13th after using four spares to clean. Bailey lost one place on the final leg, using four spares but staying out of the penalty lap.

    Twenty-six teams competed in the single mixed relay, compared to 23 in the mixed relay that followed.

    Team Italia celebrates its win in the IBU World Cup mixed relay on Saturday in Kontiolahti, Finland, with its relay members Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Dominik Windisch, and Lukas Hofer. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)

    In Saturday’s 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5 k mixed relay, Italy nabbed a 1.5-second victory over Ukraine in 1:15:08.3. Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Dominik Windisch, and Lukas Hofer — the same Italian team that took bronze in the mixed relay at last month’s Olympics, although in a different order — combined for the win with one penalty and 13 spares.

    Ukraine, with Anastasiya Merkushyna, Vita Semerenko, Artem Pryma, and Dmytro Pidruchnyi, had zero penalties and just three spares throughout the whole race. For the second-straight relay on Saturday, Norway placed third (+9.1) with Synnøve Solemdal, Tiril Eckhoff, Henrik L’Abée-Lund, and Tarjei Bø totaling zero penalties and nine spares.

    Italy’s lone penalty came in Vittozzi’s second leg, but it didn’t derail the team as it improved from sixth to fifth with Vittozzi, who skied the third-fastest course time on that leg. She tagged Windisch 6.8 seconds out of first, and Windisch, who had anchored the team in the Olympics, took the lead by the final exchange after using two spares to clean. Hofer left the exchange just 3.3 seconds ahead of Norway’s Bø but used just one spare and skied the second-fastest anchor leg to finish first, beating his rivals up Kontiolahti’s infamous climb known as “The Wall”. Ukraine’s Pidruchnyi also shot clean with a single spare and clocked the fastest anchor leg to move his team from fourth to second place. Bø lost one place and finished third after using one spare as well and skiing the third-fastest anchor leg.

    Russia followed in fourth, France fifth, Sweden sixth, Germany seventh, Austria eighth, and the U.S. ninth (+2:48.4). The U.S. team, with Clare Egan, Joanne Reid, Tim Burke, and Sean Doherty, had one penalty and 11 spares. Egan cleaned her first prone but had to ski a penalty lap after her standing stage, tagging Reid in 17th, 58.7 seconds out of first.

    Reid used three spares on the second leg and moved up to 13th by the second exchange, and Burke used three spares as well to pick off one more place and tag Doherty in 12th. Doherty skied the eighth-fastest anchor leg and used two spares to clean to put the team in ninth at the finish.

    “I don’t consider two spares to be anything special, but today it was enough to make up some ground,” Doherty wrote in an email to FasterSkier.”I felt strong skiing, more like myself which is fun even if it’s a little late in the season. We had very good skis which always helps. I have done quite a few laps on this course over the years so the lines and transitions are pretty refined, so that is where I made time on the course.

    “I am happy with my leg. I enjoyed my little battle for 9th,” he continued. “I can’t speak too much for the other members of the relay tonight but I think 9th is a solid effort.”

    Canada finished 17th (+4:34.9) with Emma Lunder, Julia Ransom, Scott Gow, and Brendan Green combining for one penalty and 13 spares. Lunder put them in 12th at the first exchange and Ransom skied up to 10th, but Scott Gow had a penalty on his standing stage to drop to 16th. Green lost one more place on the last leg despite only requiring two spares.

    Results: Single mixed relay | Mixed relay

  • Wednesday Rundown: IBU Open European Championships

    Wednesday Rundown: IBU Open European Championships

    Russia's Alexander Loginov racing to the win in the men's 20 k individual on Wednesday, the first race of 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)
    Russia’s Alexander Loginov racing to the win in the men’s 20 k individual on Wednesday, the first race of 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. (Photo: IBU)

    IBU Open European Championships (Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland): 15/20 k individual

    The Open European Championships, a five-day International Biathlon Union (IBU) sanctioned event, opened Wednesday with the men’s 20-kilometer and women’s 15 k individual races in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland.

    Russia took first and second in the women’s race, with 29-year-old Irina Starykh — coming off a two-year ban for EPO use — winning by more than a minute over her teammate Svetlana Sleptsova. Starykh hit all 20 targets en route to the victory 44:24.7 minutes, which was 1:03.8 faster than Sleptsova, who had one penalty (0+1+0+0) in second. Ukraine’s Anastasiya Merkushyna placed third (+1:05.0) with one penalty as well (0+1+0+0).

    American Emily Dreissigacker shooting clean during her first prone stage of the women's 15 k individual on Wednesday at 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. She finished 41st.
    American Emily Dreissigacker shooting clean during her first prone stage of the women’s 15 k individual on Wednesday at 2017 IBU Open European Championships in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland. She finished 41st.

    Emily Dreissigacker led the two U.S. women in the race in 41st (+7:47.6) with four penalties (0+1+1+2). Hallie Grossman finished 52nd (+9:06.1) with four misses as well (1+1+2+0).

    Canada’s Leilani Tam von Burg finished 58th (+9:54.2) with two penalties (0+0+1+1), and Erin Yungblut was 60th (+10:13.4) with three misses (0+2+0+1).

    Russia took first in the men’s 20 k as well, with 24-year-old Alexander Loginov — who also recently served a two-year ban for testing positive for EPO — winning by 11.4 seconds in 44:54.9. He had one penalty in his first prone stage (1+0+0+0) but cleaned the next three stages. Bulgaria’s Krasimir Anew cleaned (0+0+0+0) for second (+11.4), and Russia had two on the podium with Alexey Slepov in third (+53.6), with clean shooting as well.

    Russia swept fourth through six, putting five in the top six.

    Russell Currier led the American men in 51st (+5:42.5) with five penalties (2+2+0+1). Paul Schommer placed 57th (+6:02.5) with five misses as well (2+0+1+2), Max Durtschi was 62nd (+6:44.2) with two misses (1+0+1+0), Alex Howe 79th (+8:46) with three misses (0+1+0+2), Jakob Ellingson 87th (+10:11.3) with seven misses (2+4+1+0), and Michael Gibson 94th (+11:58.3) with six penalties (1+1+1+3).

    Carsen Campbell was the top Canadian in 64th (+6:58.2) with two misses (0+1+1+0). Matthew Neumann finished 68th (+7:26.0) with three misses (0+1+0+2), Aidan Miller was 72nd (+8:07.9) with two miles (0+1+0+1), Matthew Hudec 98th (+12:29.5) with seven misses (1+1+2+3), and Pearce Hanna 101st (+14:07.1) with seven misses (2+2+2+1).

    Racing continues Friday with the men’s 10 k and women’s 7.5 k sprints.

    Results: Women | Men

  • Second at Relay Midpoint, U.S. Women Slip to 13th; Germany Wins Third-Straight; Canada 18th in Antholz

    Second at Relay Midpoint, U.S. Women Slip to 13th; Germany Wins Third-Straight; Canada 18th in Antholz

    US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee ahead of Sweden’s Chardine Sloof during the second leg in the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)
    US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee ahead of Sweden’s Chardine Sloof during the second leg in the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus)

    As they had done in the first two relays this season, Germany and France occupied the top two positions on the podium in the women’s 4 x 6-kilometer relay on Sunday at the IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. And to the joy of over 20,000 raucous fans in the sunny arena, home team Italy claimed the third place. So far, so not very unusual.

    But at the halfway point of the race, Susan Dunklee had moved the U.S. team into second position, just 33 seconds behind Germany in first. A potential surprise was in the air.

    “Head-to-head shooting and hunting people down on skis are two of my favorite racing experiences, so I was thrilled with today,” Dunklee stated, according to a US Biathlon press release.

    Starting the race in bib 22 out of the last start row, her teammate Clare Egan had slightly moved up on the course coming into the first prone stage, and with a clean shooting performance left the range in fourth place just 3.1 seconds behind the leaders.

    US Biathlon’s Clare Egan on the course skiing the opening leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)
    US Biathlon’s Clare Egan on the course skiing the opening leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)

    “I rarely get to do mass starts but I love them,” Egan wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “I shot clean and was the first athlete off the mat so my plan worked. I just tried to position myself as best I could and then pass on the shooting range.”

    She was able to keep up with the teams around her on the next loop, and with one spare in the standing shooting, she managed to hit all her targets, skiing back on the course in ninth place.

    “Last week I also hit 9/10 targets, but then I had to use all three spares to get that last target down, because I got so nervous,” Egan explained. “So this week I really tried to prepare mentally for shooting my spares and it helped.”

    On the final loop she managed to overtake the Austrian team while getting passed by Switzerland, and while Egan lost a bit more time to the French and German teams leading the race at that point, she tagged off to Dunklee in the ninth and just 21 seconds behind France and Germany.

    Dunklee quickly began to close gaps and overtook several of the teams around her, including Sweden, Belarus, Slovakia and Norway.

    “I felt sharper on skis than earlier this week,” Dunklee wrote in an email. “I think my body adjusted better to the altitude each day. I did not follow any sort of pacing plan today; I saw people ahead of me early and I went after them, and then held on as best I could on the last loop.”

    In her prone shooting stage Dunklee needed two spares to hit all targets, leaving the range in fourth position. But she kept gaining ground on the loop and with a clean standing stage, while most of the athletes around her needed spares.

    “I was disappointed to miss my last two shots in prone again, but standing felt good,” Dunklee wrote. “I took a few extra breaths before the first shot and then used an assertive cadence.”

    Keeping Italy and Norway behind her on the final loop and only losing a few more seconds to Germany’s Maren Hammerschmidt, Dunklee tagged her teammate Joanne Reid in second (+32.9).

    Reid, who is in her first full season with the US Biathlon World Cup team, was able to keep up with the leaders on the first loop, skiing close to the eventual podium finishers Anaïs Bescond of France and Alexia Runggaldier of Italy.

    Reid cleaned the prone stage without any spares, but as most of the teams around her did the same, several teams remained close together. On the next loop, Reid was nearly able to hold her distance to the leaders, but was passed on the biggest climb by Ukraine’s veteran Valj Semerenko.

    She may have invested a bit too much energy trying to keep up with the best teams on that loop, and in the following standing shooting Reid missed her first shots and eventually ran out of spares, having to ski twice through the 150-meter penalty lap to lose more than a minute and a half.

    Reid tagged teammate Maddie Phaneuf in 13th position (+2:24.3). For Phaneuf, it was only her second time anchoring a U.S. World Cup relay.

    “My very first World Cup two seasons ago, I anchored for our team (Susan Dunklee, Hannah Dreissigacker, and Annelies Cook) in Ruhpolding,” Phaneuf wrote in an email. “I remember our team did not have a very good race, and I got lapped.”

    This time, it went better, especially due to her shooting performance only requiring one spare in standing (0+0, 0+1) and achieving a top-10 range time.

    “I was pleased with my shooting today, especially coming out of the Individual race from earlier this week with so many mistakes,” Phaneuf explained. “The wind was much calmer on the range, which helped. The biggest thing for me was that I found myself less distracted by the atmosphere and more focused on my shooting, which I’ve been trying to deal with the past few races. It can be tough with all the TV cameras, excited crowds, and announcers!”

    On the final loop Phaneuf was able to keep Slovakia’s Jana Gerekova behind her, but was unable to bridge the gap to two other teams due to a small mishap.

    “By the last loop I was hanging with the Polish and Norwegian girls [Krystyna Guzik and Rikke Andersen], but I caught my ski on some fencing coming around a corner into a downhill and lost a lot of momentum,” she wrote. “I was really bummed, because then I lost the chance to draft these girls into the finishing stretch. But I am happy to see that my ski speed is improving with every race, and it’s making me more and more excited for World Championships in a couple of weeks.”

    Back again in 13th place where she had begun, Phaneuf crossed the finish in 1:11:58.9 hours, 2:46.5 minutes behind the winners. The U.S. had two penalties and seven spares.

    “Today was a great day for our team and I am proud of how all of my teammates performed and the effort they gave,” Dunklee commented. “We can see that we are not far off a top 10 or even better, and that is motivating.”

    While the U.S. team faded back a bit in the second half of the race, several of the more experienced teams fought for the places on the podium.

    From left to right: Germany’s Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt, Franziska Hildebrand and Laura Dahlmeier celebrate their victory in the women’s 4 x 6 k women’s relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo IBU/Christian Manzoni)
    From left to right: Germany’s Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt, Franziska Hildebrand and Laura Dahlmeier celebrate their victory in the women’s 4 x 6 k women’s relay at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo IBU/Christian Manzoni)

    Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier struggled to control her last shots, gasping heavily in the thin air of the Antholz biathlon arena some 1,600 meters above sea level during the final standing stage. But with her last spare, she managed to avoid the penalty lap and secured the victory for her team with Vanessa Hinz, Hammerschmidt and Franziska Hildebrand. Dahlmeier even had enough time to grab a flag from a fan on the finishing stretch before crossing the line in 1:09:12.4 hours, with 12 spares and zero penalties.

    “That’s why you have six spares in the relay,” Dahlmeier said with a laugh when asked by German broadcaster ZDF about her shooting stages, where she needed five spares to clean. “And when you ski over the line in first, you can’t have done all that much wrong. I wasn’t actually scared [of a penalty lap], but I made it a bit too suspenseful with my shooting and was happy the other girls had given me a lead.”

    Germany had also won the two prior relay races of the season in Pokljuka, Slovenia, and Ruhpolding, Germany.

    “Three relay competitions in this season, three victories – of course that makes us the favorites for the World Championships,” Hildebrand said, according to an IBU press release. “I think as a team we are strong enough to handle this pressure.”

    Crossing the line 24.2 seconds behind Dahlmeier, France’s Marie Dorin Habert comfortably secured second place for her team on the final loop, with eight spares and zero penalties. Despite requiring fewer spare rounds, the French team of Anaïs Chevalier, Justine Braisaz, Bescond, and anchor Dorin Habert was not quite able to keep up on the course on Sunday.

    “Maybe at the last shooting, almost,” Bescond said at the press conference when asked if, during the race, she thought her team might claim the victory. “Unfortunately we were not strong enough to catch the German team today.”

    Just like it was the third victory for Germany, it was also the third second-place finish of the season for the French women. “We are happy, but we want to beat Germany, maybe at World Championships,” Chevalier said at the press conference.

    On the final round Italy’s Dorothea Wierer tried everything to get a podium on her home course, following two weaker performances in the individual and mass start races, but Ukraine’s 22-year-old Anastasiya Merkushyna didn’t make it easy for her, fighting back to take a small lead. But on the last small climb into the arena, Wierer broke her resistance, celebrating her third place when she skied into the arms of the teammates Lisa Vittozzi, Federica Sanfilipo and Runggaldier awaiting her. Like the other teams on the podium Italy had no penalty, and required nine spares.

    “I was going away from the shooting range with Merkushyna,” Wierer commented in the press conference on her last loop. “I felt really good, and I don’t know if she was only playing with me, but she seemed not so strong on skis. But then she made a little sprint and I pushed so hard to keep [up with] her. And on the last uphill I made another sprint hoping she would not take me anymore, but I wasn’t sure.”

    “We are not always shooting so well,” she said when asked about Italy’s chances for the World Championships relay. “But I think we are getting better and more confident. And I think we will beat the German and also the French team!”

    “I am kidding,” she added with a laugh, turning to Germany’s Hildebrand sitting next to her. “I am not kidding!”

    Ukraine’s relay with Yuliya Zhuravok, Yulia Dzhima, Semerenko and Anastasiya Merkushyna finished fourth (+37.5), with six spares and zero penalties.

    Canada 18th Despite Strong Shooting

    Biathlon Canada’s Megan Tandy (center, bib 11) skiing the opening leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay for the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)
    Biathlon Canada’s Megan Tandy (center, bib 11) skiing the opening leg of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay for the 2017 IBU World Cup in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: IBU/Christian Manzoni)

    The Canadian relay of Megan Tandy, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder, and Rosanna Crawford shot as well as some of the teams on the podium, requiring only eight spare rounds and incurring zero penalties, but could not keep up with the leaders.

    After starting in the fourth row in bib 11 and skiing close to the top group on the first loop, Tandy required four spare rounds (0+2, 0+2) setting her back early in the race. She improved by two positions on the final loop, but tagged off in 18th place, more than a minute behind the leaders. Ransom improved one place to 17th with two solid shootings (0+0, 0+1) but doubled the deficit, and Lunder kept them in that position with a clean standing before losing one spot again on her last loop (0+1, 0+0) to exchange in 18th. Crawford (0+2, 0+0) was only briefly able to move the team up to 16th place before losing those positions to China’s Xuelan Wang and the Czech Republic’s Veronika Vitková (who rested their star Gabriela Koukalová on Sunday) on the last loop to ultimately finish 18th (+4:12.1).

    “I think we were hoping for another top 10 today,” Crawford wrote in an email. “Antholz even on a calm day has tricky shooting, the altitude and the flat run into the range I think catches people off guard. We had some good skis today but [it] just wasn’t enough to keep us in contention. We had some great results though this week, with Emma’s 21st [in the individual race] and Scott [Gow] making his first Mass Start.”

    Recently struggling a bit to get her speed up to her level from last season, Crawford posted the 15th-ranked course time on the fourth leg of Sunday’s relay after an extended recovery.

    “We had decided to change the training plan around because skiing was just getting worse and worse each race,” Crawford explained. “So I didn’t race the pursuit in Ruhpolding or the Individual here, took a few days off and kept this week really easy … So hopefully the rest I took will pay off for World Champs.”

    The IBU World Cup now enters a two-week break ahead of the World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, which begin on Feb. 9 with a mixed relay.

    During this period, there will also be the 2017 Open European Championships beginning this Wednesday in Duszniki-Zdrój, Poland, which several World Cup starters including representatives from the U.S. and Canada plan to race in.

    Results

  • Thursday Rundown: Ruhpolding and Soldier Hollow (Updated)

    Thursday Rundown: Ruhpolding and Soldier Hollow (Updated)

    The women's freestyle-sprint prologue podium on Thursday, the final day of 2017 U.S. Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Canada's Dahria Beatty (AWCA/NST U25 Team) took first, Hannah Halvorsen (Sugar Bowl Academy/USST) second, and Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) third.
    The women’s freestyle-sprint prologue podium on Thursday, the final day of 2017 U.S. Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Canada’s Dahria Beatty (AWCA/NST U25 Team) took first, Hannah Halvorsen (Sugar Bowl Academy/USST) second, and Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) third.

    U.S. Cross Country Championships (Soldier Hollow): Freestyle-sprint prologue

    [UPDATED] One and done. That was the case Thursday for the U.S. Cross Country Championship’s freestyle sprint at Soldier Hollow (SoHo) where only a qualifier was held to determine the final standings — no heats were contested. With just-under-freezing temps and a light snow falling, the men set off at 15-second intervals.

    The men’s podium was an all-Canadian affair as they swept the top-three positions. Jess Cockney of the Canadian World Cup B-team placed first in 3:15.20. Julien Locke of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and Canadian National U25 Team skied to second (+2.69), his AWCA/U25 Team teammate Knute Johnsgaard was third (+2.72).

    The top American skier was Alaska Pacific University’s Logan Hanneman in fourth (+3.37). The second-fastest U.S. skier was Sun Valley Ski Education Education Foundation (SVSEF) Gold Team skier Cole Morgan (+5.03). Morgan was the sixth-fastest athlete overall. The third American and seventh overall was John Hegman (+5.71) also of the SVSEF Gold Team.

    The women’s skate sprint also featured a preliminary with no heats. Canada’s Dahria Beatty (AWCA/NST U25 Team) placed first in 3:13.60. Sugar Bowl Academy and U.S. Ski Team Development Team member Hannah Halvorsen was second (+3.15), and Team Gregg’s Caitlin Gregg third (+4.80). The third-fastest American was APU’s Chelsea Holmes (+7.24) who finished sixth overall.

    The national championship week at Soldier Hollow has concluded.

    Men’s Results | Women’s Results

    ***

    IBU World Cup (Ruhpolding, Germany): 4 x 6 k women’s relay

    [UPDATED: includes quotes from Canada’s Rosanna Crawford and Americans Susan Dunklee and Maddie Phaneuf]

    The women’s 4 x 6-kilometer relay in Ruhpolding, Germany, came down to the very end, with Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier holding off France’s Celia Aymonier and Norway’s Marte Olsbu to the finish. Dahlmeier secured the win in the first women’s relay of 2017, crossing the line in 1:09:53, just 3.5 seconds ahead of Aymonier and 4.5 ahead of Olsbu.

    The Germans used six spare rounds and avoided the penalty lap for the victory, with Dahlmeier lifting them from fifth at the final exchange to first at the finish.

    While both Aymonier and Olsbu cleaned both shooting stages without any spares, Dahlmeier had to use one on the final standing stage. She had to pass Olsbu twice to secure the victory.

    “I wanted to slowly pull myself up to her, not over-pace, and have enough energy left for the next climb,” Dahlmeier recalled in a post-race interview with Germany’s ARD. “At some point I knew we had the top equipment today. If I’m ahead for the last downhill then I will bring the win home.”

    The German women's 4 x 6 k relay team, with (from left to right) Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt, Franziska Preuss, and Laura Dahlmeier after winning Thursday's IBU World Cup at home in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: IBU)
    The German women’s 4 x 6 k relay team, with (from left to right) Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt, Franziska Preuss, and Laura Dahlmeier after winning Thursday’s IBU World Cup at home in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: IBU)

    She teamed up with Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt and Franziska Preuss for the win. It was Preuss’s first race back after a long break due to illness. While she said she was “very nervous”, Preuss cleaned her prone stage and used two spares to clean standing.

    On the second leg, Hammerschmidt and Fenne tangled on a downhill turn. The came through the exchange in second and fourth, respectively, behind Ukraine’s Anastasiya Merkushyna (who brought her team from 10th to first by the race’s halfway point).

    “Thankfully, it still worked out fine in the end,” Hammerschmidt told ARD.

    France took second, using a total of seven spares and no penalties, with Anais Chevalier, Justine Braisaz, Anais Bescond, and Aymonier, respectively.

    Norway had near-flawless shooting all around with just one spare, used by third-leg skier Tiril Eckhoff, who teamed up with Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen, Hilde Fenne and Olsbu for third place.

    The Norwegians held off Ukraine by 4.3 seconds for the final spot on the podium.

    Canada placed 10th (+3:00.6), using just three spares and no penalties, with Megan Tandy, Rosanna Crawford, Emma Lunder, and Julia Ransom. Crawford elevated the team to eighth after the second leg, but they slipped two spots over the third and fourth legs.

    “We had a great shooting day today, and some really fast skis,” Crawford said, according to a Biathlon Canada press release. “I think with just three spares for the whole team, our expectations should be quite a bit higher, but this year the ski speed seems to be below where we usually are.”

    The U.S. women finished 17th (+5:08.2), with 11 spare rounds and no penalties, with Susan Dunklee, Maddy Phaneuf, Clare Egan, and Joanne Reid. Dunklee started the team off and raced to 11th at the first exchange, then they slipped back to 16th and finally 17th at the finish out of 23 teams.

    “I enjoy the extra challenge of starting at the back of a mass start,” Dunklee said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “I’m good at weaving through crowds and it’s incredibly satisfying to pass lots of people.”

    “Shooting on Point 2 is exactly where I wanted to be at that point in the race, and I felt comfortable there,” she added.

    Dunklee tagged to Phaneuf, who, in her first World Cup race of the season, used two spare rounds to clean 10 targets.

    “I’m happy to have the opportunity to be racing on the World Cup again,” Phaneuf told US Biathlon. “Today’s race went OK, the shooting was average for me and the skiing was tough. The atmosphere here in Ruhpolding is so amazing, so that made the racing very exciting. I’m looking forward to race the sprint on Saturday. Huge shoutout to the wax techs and staff for some fast skis and support.”

    “It was wonderful to finally put together a full women’s team and we look forward to improving upon today’s performance in the coming weeks,” Dunklee added.

    Results

  • Sunday Rundown: Davos, Pokljuka & Sovereign Lake (Updated x3)

    Sunday Rundown: Davos, Pokljuka & Sovereign Lake (Updated x3)

    The French men's relay team after their IBU World Cup win on Sunday in Pokljuka, Slovenia, with (from left to right) Martin Fourcade, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Simon Desthieux, and Jean-Guillaume Béatrix. They beat Russia by 15.7 seconds for the win. (Photo: IBU)
    The French men’s relay team after their IBU World Cup win on Sunday in Pokljuka, Slovenia, with (from left to right) Martin Fourcade, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Simon Desthieux, and Jean-Guillaume Béatrix. They beat Russia by 15.7 seconds for the win. (Photo: IBU)

    Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers.

    ***

    Note: This recap has been updated to reflect the correct positions each of the four Canadian women exchanged in during Sunday’s 4 x 6 k IBU World Cup relay. 

    IBU World Cup in Pokljuka: Men’s & Women’s Relays

    Germany and France reached the podium in both the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer and women’s 4 x 6 k sprints on Sunday, the final day of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia.

    France won the men’s race by 15.7 seconds over Russia with a total of seven spare rounds and zero penalties. Jean-Guillaume Béatrix started off by putting the French team in fourth, then Quentin Fillon Maillet elevated them to first, a position both Simon Desthieux and Martin Fourcade held for the victory in 1:11:56.5.

    “When we started the relay, we thought that winning was possible,” Béatrix said, according to an IBU press release. “At the same time, the competition was very tough. There were many strong teams today.”

    “I was very happy to tag Martin with a 20-second lead,” Desthieux said. “This is good for my confidence.”

    Russia placed second with Maxim Tsvetkov, Anton Babikov, Matvey Eliseev, and Anton Shipulin, the four of which combined for one penalty (on Eliseev’s third leg) and six spare rounds.

    Germany rounded out the podium in third, 21.5 seconds behind France, with Erik Lesser, Matthias Dorfer, Benedikt Doll, and Simon Schempp. In ninth after Lesser’s first leg, Dorfer brough the team to eighth and Doll raced them into second before Schempp lost one place to end up third. They used a total of 11 spares but avoided the penalty lap.

    Canada placed 10th of 22 teams, 1:44.7 out of first with one penalty and seven spares. Christian Gow started the team out with clean shooting and tagged off in sixth at the first exchange, and his older brother Scott Gow also shot clean without any spares to move up to fourth at the second tag. Macx Davies required three spares and had to ski a penalty lap on his prone stage, then used another spare to clean standing and tagged off in 14th place. Brendan Green anchored the Canadians to 10th, using three spares but avoiding a penalty in prone, then cleaning standing without any spares.

    “I had a somewhat disappointing pursuit race yesterday, and my goal for today was to refocus on the range and push the ski speed as much as possible,” 28-year-old Scott Gow told Biathlon Canada, according to a press release. “I was happy with the overall performance I was able to put forward for my leg of the relay, and I was especially happy with another clean shooting day.

    “Today was an acceptable result for the team,” he added. “Christian and I are very proud of our results so far this season. We worked very hard all year to try and elevate our racing abilities to the next level, and we saw our hard work pay off today with great skiing and perfect shooting for both of us. It’s also a big confidence boost going forward with the season knowing we are capable of competing among the best.”

    Germany's Karen Hammerschmidt (l) tagging her teammate Laura Dahlmeier in second place at the final exchange of the women's 4 x 6 k relay at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Dahlmeier anchored the team to the win by 10.1 seconds over France. (Photo: IBU)
    Germany’s Karen Hammerschmidt (l) tagging her teammate Laura Dahlmeier in second place at the final exchange of the women’s 4 x 6 k relay at the IBU World Cup in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Dahlmeier anchored the team to the win by 10.1 seconds over France. (Photo: IBU)

    In the women’s relay on Sunday, Germany took first by 10.1 seconds over France, using nine spares but no penalties.

    Vanessa Hinz started the Germans out and tagged off in fifth, and second-leg Franziska Hildebrand moved them up into second by the halfway point. Karen Hammerschmidt held that position, which was enough for Laura Dahlmeier who anchored them to the win in 1:11:31.1.

    “This was a brutally beautiful race today,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF after her third win in as many races in Pokljuka. “It was very fun, and I was very relaxed because I knew we were competing as a team. Even if you don’t have as much power left there are still three others. I was on top of my game and just enjoyed it. I really looked forward to the race, although yesterday I was knocked out. But on the course I had a good feeling right from the start.”

    France in second and Ukraine in third (+37.7) both required just three spare rounds and no penalties per team. France secured second place with Anais Chevalier (who initially tagged off in 11th), Justine Braisaz (who picked off eight places to move into third), Celia Aymonier (who tagged off in first), and Marie Dorin Habert (who cleaned without any spares but came up 10 seconds short of Dahlmeier at the finish).

    Ukraine reached the podium with Iryna Varvynets, Yuliia Dzhima, Olena Pidhrushna, and Anastasiya Merkushyna.

    Canada placed 11th (+3:33.1) with a total of just four spares and no penalties. Sarah Beaudry initially tagged off in 23rd, Rosanna Crawford skied them into 18th, Megan Tandy shot clean without any spares and tagged off in 14th, and Julia Ransom anchored them to 11th out of 23 teams.

    The U.S. did not field a men’s or women’s relay team, with just three men and three women in Pokljuka.

    Results: Men | Women

    ***

    FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Davos: Freestyle Sprints

    In the men’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint on Sunday it was Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov who emerged victorious, besting Finn Hågen Krogh of Norway and his Norwegian teammate Sindre Bjørnestad Skar for first.

    After qualifying 29th overall, Ustiugov crossed first in his quarterfinal and held the led through his semifinal and into the final, winning in a time of 2:24.65. Krogh crossed 0.59 tenths of a second behind him for second place and Skar took the final podium spot, crossing 3.29 seconds after Ustiugov.

    Also in the sprint final was Russia’s Alexey Petukhov, who finished just off the podium in fourth (+3.47), Norwegian Emil Iversen in fifth (+5.52) and France’s Lucas Chanavat — who won the qualifier — ended the day in sixth (+11.48).

    Lucas Chanavat of France had the fastest men's qualifying time in the Davos World Cup freestyle sprint on Sunday.
    Lucas Chanavat of France had the fastest men’s qualifying time in the Davos World Cup freestyle sprint on Sunday.

    Canada’s Lenny Valjas was the top North American finisher for the day, qualifying 12th and advancing to the quarterfinals where he finished in 14th overall. No other Canadians made the sprint heats, with Alex Harvey left just outside advancing in 33rd, Devon Kershaw ending the day in 49th, Knute Johnsgaard 60th, Bob Thompson 67th, and Andy Shields 73rd. Jesse Cockney did not finish the race.

    Simi Hamilton led the U.S. in 24th (+3.88). Andy Newell was just outside the heats in 36th, and Eric Packer placed 95th (+21.62).

    In the women’s 1.6 k freestyle sprint, Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway took the overall win, crossing in a time of 2:44.63. Just 0.53 tenths of a second behind Falla was her Norwegian teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in second place overall. The final women’s podium finisher, Hanna Falk of Sweden was 0.60 tenths of second off Falla in third.

    U.S. Ski Team member, Jessie Diggins made the final, racing to a fifth place overall (+5.91), behind Sweden’s Jonna Sundling in fourth (+1.04) and ahead of Russia’s Natlalia Matveeva in sixth (+6.80).

    The United States put three other women into the heats, including Sophie Caldwell who finished 11th, Sadie Bjornsen 15th, and Ida Sargent 20th.

    American Caitlin Patterson ended the day 47th, Kikkan Randall 58th, and Liz Stephen 61st.

    Dahria Beatty was the top Canadian on Sunday, finishing in 25th overall. Cendrine Browne ended the day 53rd and Sophie Carrier-Laforte 59th.

    Qualifier Results: Men | Women

    Final Results: Men | Women

    ***

    NorAm/SuperTour at Sovereign Lake: 10/15 k Freestyle

    [UPDATE] It was Americans owning the podium again Sunday at Sovereign Lake, and a little bit more. It was warmer on Sunday, -7 Celsius, and snowed lightly throughout.

    The men’s 15 k freestyle was first on the schedule.  APU’s Scott Patterson won in 40:00.2, followed by Saturday’s A-finalist Matt Gelso at 13.2 seconds and Vail’s Tad Elliot at +26.6.

    The top Canadian was Team R.A.D.’s Russell Kennedy in ninth, at 1:38.8 behind.

    In the women’s 10 k freestyle, the podium was owned by APU’s Chelsea Holmes in 30:42.9. SMS Elite’s Katharine Ogden was second at 13.4 seconds, also winning the junior category. Her teammate Erika Flowers was third, 36.4 behind.

    AWCA’s Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt was the top Canadian for the second day, placing 13th at 1:51.8.

  • With Ninth Medal, Doherty Makes IBU Youth/Junior Worlds History (with Photos)

    With Ninth Medal, Doherty Makes IBU Youth/Junior Worlds History (with Photos)

    Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) racing to second in the men's 10 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. It was his ninth career medal in his sixth youth/junior worlds, making him the most decorated junior biathlete at that level of all time. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
    Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) racing to second in the men’s 10 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. It was his ninth-career medal in his sixth youth/junior worlds, making him the most decorated junior biathlete of all time at that level. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)

    Sean Doherty went for it on Saturday and the dividends paid off. The 20-year-old New Hampshire native became the most decorated athlete in the history of IBU Youth/Junior World Championships with his ninth career medal — silver in the junior men’s 10-kilometer sprint in Cheile Gradistei, Romania.

    The 24th starter in a field of more than 100 men, Doherty, a US Biathlon A-team member and 2014 Olympian, established himself as the fastest skier almost immediately on a melting course amid balmy temperatures. By 1.7 k, he had put more than eight seconds into the field in first place. By the end of the first of three loops, he was 15 seconds of his biggest rival for the win: Austria’s Felix Leitner.

    The men's sprint podium at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania, with Austrian winner Felix Leitner (c), American runner-up Sean Doherty (l) and Germany's David Zobel (r) in third. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
    The men’s sprint podium at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania, with Austrian winner Felix Leitner (c), American runner-up Sean Doherty (l) and Germany’s David Zobel (r) in third. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)

    The winner of Thursday’s 15 k individual race, Leitner started in bib 2 on Saturday. An early leader, he cleaned the first of two stages, then missed one standing, but remained ahead to set the time to beat at the finish in 26:27.1.

    Doherty emerged from the first prone with a single miss. The penalty put him 4.3 seconds behind Leitner heading into his second loop. During the second shooting, Doherty, a bronze medalist on Thursday, missed another in standing. He left the range 8.7 seconds down to Leitner and crossed the finish line in second, 11.5 seconds back.

    The top-two times held firm despite challenges from France’s Emilien Jacquelin, who started 31st, and Germany’s David Zobel in bib 80. Both cleaned prone, and Jacquelin ranked second to Leitner after the first shooting, about two seconds ahead of Doherty. Two penalties in his standing stage dropped the Frenchman to fourth, where he would end up, 46.7 behind Leitner.

    Zobel ended up on the podium with a single standing miss, leaving the range for the last loop in fifth and overtaking Jacquelin and Poland’s Mateus Janik to achieve third (+39.3). Janik slipped from third to 11th on the last loop with the 42nd-ranked course time on that loop.

    In an email, US Biathlon Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler stated he knew Doherty was having another medal-worthy day after the second shooting. After the first stage, he could tell that “only Felix Leitner [had] the ski speed to beat Sean with 0 or 1 penalties today,” he wrote.

    Doherty posted the fastest overall course time by 6.5 seconds over Leitner.

    “He was very aggressive today from the start,” Eisenbichler continued. “This is how you have to go for a Sprint race like today and I was very pleased to see that.”

    This edition of Youth/Junior World Championships is Doherty’s sixth. Over the years, he has won three gold medals, earned four silvers and two bronze.

    “Today’s race was a great sprint for me,” Doherty said in a US Biathlon press release. “I felt really good on the skis and I was able to ski the aggressive type of race that I want to. I’m looking forward to the pursuit.”

    Doherty will start Sunday’s pursuit in second, 12 seconds behind Leitner, who has racked up three world titles in the last two years (including two this week).

    “I think right now I am the happiest men in the world,” Leitner, 19, said in a post-race press conference. “After I missed the [standing target], I was thinking that is going to be harder because it was so hot, but I knew I am in a good shape and I thought I could get a medal. It is going to be interesting tomorrow.”

    During the press conference, Doherty complimented the race organizers for their ability to deal with well-above freezing conditions this week. On Thursday, temperatures were around 7 degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit) under sunny skies.

    “The people from Cheile Grădiștei did a great job preparing the tracks,” he said. “This weather has been very warm, but the conditions were quite good today and I think it was a great day for racing. I feel great and my shape is really good I am really excited for tomorrow.”

    Zobel will start third in the pursuit, 27 seconds after Doherty.

    “It was a tough race, but I think I did my best and I am really happy with the third place,” the German said of the sprint in the press conference. “I nearly died at my last loop.”

    Sunday’s pursuits are the final individual races of the 2016 championships. Relays will follow on Monday and Tuesday.

    Top 7 for Phaneuf

    Maddie Phaneuf during her second shooting stage on Saturday at the women's 7.5 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. She placed seventh overall.
    Maddie Phaneuf during her second shooting stage on Saturday in the women’s 7.5 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. She placed seventh overall.

    In the junior women’s 7.5 k sprint, Maddie Phaneuf came within 0.9 seconds of her second-straight flower ceremony (top six) in seventh, 36.9 seconds behind the winner and 24.5 seconds off the podium.

    Phaneuf (US Biathlon X-team) started ninth, and proceeded to clean prone and miss one standing to initially finish third behind France’s Chloe Chevalier (bib 6) and Ukraine’s Anastasiya Merkushyna (bib 4), respectively.

    The 29th starter, Hanna Öberg of Sweden ultimately topped the field in 21:18.1 with perfect 10-for-10 shooting. She bumped Switzerland’s Lena Häcki in bib 11 out of first at the finish by 0.6 seconds for the win. Häcki took second despite two penalties (0+2) and another Swede, Anna Magnusson placed third (+12.4) with one miss (0+1).

    France’s Lena Arnaud cleaned for fourth (+28.2), Chevalier placed fifth (+35.9) and Merkushyna was sixth (+36.0).

    Overall, Phaneuf’s course time ranked ninth. The result was her third best in her third-and-final youth/junior worlds. Coming into these races, she explained in a previous email she had hoped to finish in the top 10.

    “The skiing is on a good level now and the shooting was before already,” Eisenbichler observed of Phaneuf. “Before she had to rely on her shooting to make a good result, but now she is a more complete biathlete. Still a lot of work to do, but very much on the right way.”

    Neither Doherty nor Phaneuf could be reached for comment on Saturday.

    The women's sprint podium at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania: with Swedish winner Hanna Oeberg (c), Swiss runner-up Lena Haecki (l) and Sweden's Anna Magnusson (r) in third. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
    The women’s sprint podium at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania: with Swedish winner Hanna Oeberg (c), Swiss runner-up Lena Haecki (l) and Sweden’s Anna Magnusson (r) in third. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)

    For Öberg, it was her first individual podium in five youth/junior worlds.

    “I wasn’t so nervous on the shooting range but on the last shoot I had to take an extra breath,” she said in the post-race press conference. “I was a little bit tired with the skiing. I knew at the beginning of the last loop that I have a few extra seconds but I didn’t know that the finish is going to be so tight. I am so happy I can’t believe it.”

    Six-tenths of a second short of first, Häcki told the Swiss Ski Federation that she knew it was going to be close on the final loop. Her medal was the first for Switzerland at Junior World Championships since Benjamin Weger placed second in the 2009 sprint in Canmore, Alberta.

    “My coaches informed me after the shooting that I only had a 15-second deficit to first place,” Häcki said. “I gave it all I had, but Hanna was a little faster than me in the end. But I won the second place and did not lose the first.”

    With one miss, Magnusson, who started six places behind Häcki, sat in second with one loop to go. However, the Swede failed to match Häcki’s time, finishing 11.8 seconds behind her in third.

    “I am really happy to be on the podium and especially with Hanna,” Magnusson said in the press conference. “We are both from the same small town from Sweden.”

    ‘It’s possible!’

    The U.S. team’s second junior woman, Siena Ellingson finished 48th (+3:41.9) with four penalties (2+2). Paul Everett was 62nd in the men’s race with three misses (2+1), followed by Travis Cooper in 86th with seven penalties (4+3), and Brian Halligan in 92nd with six misses (2+4).

    “Sean and Maddie showed the other US starters what’s possible of American athletes and that’s really important,” Eisenbichler wrote. “Needs very hard work to get there, but it’s possible!”

    For Canada, Leilani Tam von Burg led the team with her second-straight top 30 with a career best 28th (+2:18.8) with one miss (0+1). Kendall Chong placed 51st (+3:58.7) with the same 0+1 shooting, and Charlotte Hamel was 62nd with two misses (1+1). Caitlin Campbell did not finish.

    Matthew Strum was the top Canadian male in 37th (+2:37.1) with two penalties (0+2). Pearce Hanna was 48th (+3:06.9) with three misses (2+1), Aidan Millar 55th (+3:39.3) with five misses (2+3), and Alex Dupuis 69th with five misses as well (2+3).

    Results: Women’s 7.5 k sprint | Men’s 10 k sprint

    Start lists: Junior women’s pursuit | Junior men’s pursuit

  • Back-to-Back Flower Ceremonies: Doherty Third, Phaneuf Fifth for U.S. at IBU Junior Worlds

    Back-to-Back Flower Ceremonies: Doherty Third, Phaneuf Fifth for U.S. at IBU Junior Worlds

    Seeing Sean Doherty on the podium on Thursday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Junior World Championships was hardly a surprise — but that didn’t necessarily make it any easier to reach.

    The 20-year-old US Biathlon A-team member had started early in bib 10 and initially finished second in the junior men’s 15-kilometer individual start, after two misses put him two minutes behind race leader Felix Leitner, of Austria, who had one penalty.

    Two minutes back and still on the podium? Yep, it was that kind of day. Doherty’s time held up against everyone but one other man: Italy’s Andrea Baretto, who cleaned the four-stage race and still finished 1:50.8 off Leitner’s time to claim second place. Doherty moved into third, and while he had a couple challengers for the final step on the podium — including Russia’s Dmitrii Shamaev in bib 82 — no one came close. Shamaev ended up fifth, almost a minute and 45 seconds behind Doherty and 3:45.0 behind Leitner, the winner in 41:55.4.

    Between Doherty and Shamaev, Dominic Reiter of Germany placed fourth, 46.1 seconds behind Doherty and 2:47.2 back for the winner.

    Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) leads another competitor during the men's 15 k individual at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)
    Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) leads another competitor during the men’s 15 k individual at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. (Photo: IBU YJWCH Cheile Gradistei 2016/Facebook)

    For Doherty, it was his eighth podium in six Youth/Junior World Championships (three of those podiums were wins: two in 2014 and one in 2013).

    But a medal is a medal, and that’s what he traveled to Cheile Gradistei, Romania, for.

    “I am happy to start the racing with such a strong result,” Doherty said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “Today I felt strong on the skis and very in control on the shooting range. I’m looking forward to the sprint and to more racing to come.”

    At 2014 junior worlds in Presque Isle, Maine, he won both the sprint and pursuit. His 2013 title came in the pursuit in Obertilliach, Austria.

    Doherty was second in the individual as a youth competitor in both 2013 and 2014, where he raced a shorter distance, just 12.5 k.

    But as a senior competing on the World Cup, he has shown that the format can work over longer distances too: seniors race 20 k, and Doherty finished 17th, his best World Cup to date, in the opening individual race of this season in Östersund, Sweden.

    “I am very impressed by his performance today,” US Biathlon Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “It’s easy to expect medals just going off last year’s results or some recent WC [World Cup] results, but to actually full fill these expectations is hard.”

    Four days ago, Doherty anchored the U.S. men’s relay to sixth (tying a season best) at the World Cup in Antholz, Italy.

    “He had a very intense relay in Antholz on Sunday with a great 6th place finish, then a hard travel day Monday and then had to deal with all the expectations for an expected medal performance,” Eisenbichler wrote. “In my opinion he did a super job today on the range and very solid on skis and in the end it was a medal performance and the whole staff is very proud of him!”

    Doherty’s two misses came in the last two stages. His course time ranked third overall; Leitner’s was first.

    “I already felt good during target practice, so I went into the race with confidence and pushed the tempo right from the start,” Leitner said in a Austrian Ski Federation press release, according to a translation. “Then on the fourth loop I went a little slower, in order to still have enough strength left for the final loop. That worked out perfectly.”

    For Leitner, 19, the win was his first junior title and second at youth/junior worlds after winning the youth pursuit last season in Minsk, Belarus.

    “Of course the gold medal is a dream,” he said.

    Last year in Minsk, Doherty reached the sprint podium in third, but placed outside the top 10 in the pursuit (11th) and individual (14th).

    Two Americans in the Top Five

    Back in the top five at youth/junior worlds — this time as a junior — Maddie Phaneuf (US Biathlon X-Team) notched fifth in the junior women’s 12.5 k individual on Thursday for her best result after placing fourth two seasons ago in the sprint in Presque Isle.

    Maddie Phaneuf (US Biathlon) on her way to fifth in the 12.5 k individual on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. (Photo: Chloe Levins)
    Maddie Phaneuf (US Biathlon) on her way to fifth in the 12.5 k individual on Thursday at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. (Photo: Chloe Levins)

    Despite two penalties (both in the last two stages, like Doherty), which added 2 minutes to her time, Phaneuf skied fast enough to end up 53.1 seconds behind another Austrian, Susanna Kurzthaler, who won in 39:52.7. Interestingly, Leitner and Kurzthaler both hail from the same town, Mils, with a population of about 4,000 in the Tyrollean region of Austria. They also race for the same club, Nordic Team Absam.

    Phaneuf, in her third and final youth/junior worlds, also reached the flower ceremony on Day 1.

    “Coming into these championships my goal was to place in the top 10, which I thought was quite a reach considering my best results last year was 22nd,” Phaneuf, 20, wrote in an email. “I am excited to see that my ski speed is right up there, and that I placed in the top 5!”

    The 21st starter, she initially finished second to Austria’s Julia Schwaiger, a 2015 World Championships competitor who would later move down a few spots to third (+21.4).

    “I was actually told during the last loop that I was sitting in 2nd just 50 seconds behind the leader who had shot clean,” Phaneuf recalled. “This made me realize that I must be skiing pretty well considering I had 2 misses which is a 2 minute penalty. When I saw that I crossed the line in 2nd I was pretty happy and exhausted. My starting bib was pretty early, so I knew that there would be some girls that would knock me down on the results since I missed 2 shots…so I was just hoping to stay in the top 6 and kept asking my teammates to give me the live updates.

    “I’m really happy with how I ended up, although it can be frustrating to realize that if I had hit one more target then I could have won the race,” she continued. “But I’m not complaining..a 5th place finish for the opening race is very exciting. It was great to be back in the flower ceremony after a year without it. It brought back some memories from my first Youth/Junior Worlds.”

    Of the top four women, all but one (Ukraine’s Anastasiya Merkushyna in second place) cleaned all of their targets. Merkushyna, who has World Cup experience, missed one (0+1+0+0) and finished 8.6 seconds behind Kurzthaler.

    For the 20-year-old Austrian, it was her first victory and also her first top 10 in three youth/junior worlds.

    “I already noticed during the second shooting that today could become a good day,” Kurzthaler told the Austrian Ski Federation, according to a translation. “I was shaking a little bit during the last standing stage. Then the last loop was extremely tough. This was the first time in my career I shot four times zero in an individual competition. That is just incredible. The joy is huge.”

    Maddie Phaneuf after placing fifth in the women's 12.5 k individual at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. (Photo: Chloe Levins)
    Maddie Phaneuf after placing fifth in the women’s 12.5 k individual at IBU Junior World Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania. (Photo: Chloe Levins)

    According to Eisenbichler, Phaneuf’s top-five came after she committed to biathlon full time last year. So far this season, she has recorded three individual top-21 finishes on the IBU Cup, including 14th in the sprint at the last stop in Arber, Germany.

    “We knew that she can shoot very well, but what she shows in the skiing part right now (also at the last IBU Cup) is just reflecting the work she and her coach Jean Paquet put in over the last months,” Eisenbichler wrote. “TOP 5 finish with 2 misses is a great result !!”

    Following two Americans in the top five, another U.S. biathlete achieved a top 20: Paul Everett (National Development Group) placed 19th (+6:27.6) in the men’s race with 19-for-20 shooting (0+0+1+0).

    For the 19-year-old Everett, the result stood as his first top 30 in his second world championships.

    “Paul managed to stay calm on the range today and got rewarded today with a Top 20 finish,” Eisenbichler commented. “I am very pleased and satisfied with this performance and think there could be more to come…

    “Two Top 5 finishes at Junior WCHs is a great achievement from the athletes and the staff,” he added. “We have a real professional setup here with 3 experienced European ski techs and a great coaching staff and the results reflect that this approach is the right [one] … We try to be successful here, but even more important for me is the educational part for the athletes. If both gets fulfilled it’s a prefect day and it was today!”

    Tam von Burg Leads Canada in 30th

    The top Canadian on Thursday, Leilani Tam von Burg placed 30th — a career best at worlds — with three clean stages followed by two misses in the last bout (0+0+0+2). She finished 4:33.3 behind Kurzthaler.

    Also for Canada, Kendall Chong finished 51st with three misses (2+0+0+1), Charlotte Hamel was 56th with two penalties (0+2+0+0) and Caitlin Campbell 64th with eight misses (1+2+2+3).

    Canadian coach Richard Boruta, who is leading the team in Romania, explained the conditions on Thursday had been a frozen track in the morning, which softened up considerably in the afternoon.

    “That did have an impact on the ski speed in different starting groups,” Boruta wrote in an email. “As for the Junior women, Leilani has been in the top 10 for most of the race, until he didn’t manage the last shooting as well. For Kendall and Charlotte this would have been an excellent performance, I think they were close to their current maximal potential.”

    Among the Canadian junior men, Matthew Strum placed 41st with three penalties (2+1+0+0), Alex Dupuis was 50th with three misses as well (1+0+1+1), Pearce Hanna was 62nd with eight misses (3+2+2+1), and Aidan Millar 66th with six penalties (1+1+3+1).

    “Matt and Alex have managed relatively good shooting, but none of the men (maybe except for Pearce) was skiing close to their potential,” Boruta wrote. “Overall, it seems that jet-lag is still an issue, but chances are, that they will feel better with every new race. I think there is certainly top 10 potential, but in biathlon is very hard to make some exact predictions.”

    For the U.S., Siena Ellingson placed 43rd in the women’s race with three penalties (0+2+0+1). Brian Halligan was 51st in the men’s race with four misses (2+0+1+1) and Travis Cooper 94th with nine penalties (0+3+4+2).

    Results: Women’s 12.5 k individual | Men’s 15 k indvidual